Russian Elections: Enter Medvedev
While the Russian election to pick Vladimir Putin's successor went as expected, what can Germany, the EU, and U.S. expect from Russia under Dmitry Medvedev? Will Russia continue its recent trend of increasing antagonism on the world stage? To better understand where Russia is headed, we suggest AICGS Issue Brief #17, published in October 2007, which looks at Russian foreign policy and discusses what policies Germany and the U.S. should adopt in responding to Russia.

To access Issue Brief #17, please click here (PDF).

 

In the midst of the U.S. primaries, America's European allies are preparing for transatlantic relations under the next U.S. president in 2009. On March 10, 2008, AICGS and the National Press Club will host a "Morning Newsmaker" event on "European Expectations for the Next U.S. President," which will look at Europe's views of the candidates and whether or not the new president can reconnect with Europe upon entering office.

For more information and to RSVP, please click here.

 

On March 10-11, 2008, AICGS and the University of Birmingham (UK) will host a conference on "German Vulnerabilities in a Globalizing World." This two-day conference will explore the nature of the challenges that Germany faces as a state, as well as Germany's responses to these challenges. Experts in the field will be looking at the economy, immigration, terrorism, and climate change/energy, and responses including federalism, the welfare state, European policy, and Foreign and Security Policy. The first day of the conference will focus on these challenges and the second day will examine Germany's responses.

For more information and to RSVP, please click here.

 

On March 12, 2008, AICGS Visiting Fellow Tobias Heider will present and discuss his research on "The Effectiveness of European Security Policy: Evaluating EU Crisis Management in the Balkans." In light of Kosovo's recent declaration of independence, Mr. Heider will discuss how the EU should react to violent conflicts in the Balkans, among other topics.

For more information and to RSVP, please click here.

 

In the newest AICGS Podcast, AICGS Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes speaks with Eckart von Klaeden, Member of the German Bundestag, about Afghanistan, the role of NATO, and German and European security policy after the 2008 International Security Conference in Munich.

To access this AICGS Podcast, please click here.

 

DAAD/AICGS Fellow Dr. Franz-Josef Meiers looks at the debate over Germany's troop contribution to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and concludes that German politicians are justified in refusing to send troops into combat zones due to the domestic political situation in Germany. However, Dr. Meiers argues, this prioritization of domestic concerns over external demands can certainly have consequences.

To read this essay, please click here (PDF).

 

Malte Lehming, opinion editor of Der Tagesspiegel and a regular contributor to the Advisor, writes that recent electoral results have paralyzed the political class in Germany, effectively eliminating any sort of political courage on the part of either of the grand coalition partners. This article originally appeared in the March 3, 2008, edition of The Wall Street Journal - Europe.

To read this article, please click here.

 

Was Germany experiencing a fairy tale existence during the World Cup in 2006, or has the country radically changed since then with the emergence of Die Linke and growing social angst? Dr. Paul Nolte, professor at the Free University in Berlin and a regular participant in AICGS events, addresses this question in his essay, "Between Social Angst and a Shift to the Left," and concludes that some optimism is necessary to lead Germany out of this malaise. The German version of this article originally appeared in the February 3, 2008, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

To read this essay in German, please click here.

To read this essay in English, please click here.

 

On February 4, 2008, AICGS hosted a workshop on "Security and Stability: German and American Cooperation in Times of Transition." Participants at the workshop discussed the German and American perspectives on current security issues such as terrorism, the Middle East, and Iran. Resulting from this conference are two essays dealing with the Middle East, and specifically Germany's role in diplomacy; Peter Rodman of the Brookings Institution and Henner Fürtig of the GIGA Institute discuss these issues in separate essays.

To read Peter Rodman's essay, please click here.

To read Henner Fürtig's essay, please click here.
 

In Issue Brief 20, AICGS Research Program Associate Kirsten Verclas looks at how religion impacts foreign policy in the U.S. and Germany, focusing on the world after 9/11. This Issue Brief resulted from an AICGS workshop held in Washington, DC, titled "Government and Faith-based Initiatives: A German-American Comparison," which focused on the influence of religion on social and foreign policy.

To access this Issue Brief, please click here (PDF).

 

AICGS would like to welcome its newest DAAD/AICGS Fellows, Dr. Asiye Kaya and Dr. Franz-Josef Meiers. Please click the links below to find out more about Dr. Kaya and Dr. Meiers' backgrounds and research projects.

For a short biography of Dr. Kaya, please click here.

For a short biography of Dr. Meiers, please click here.

 

On February 28, 2008, AICGS, in cooperation with The German Marshall Fund of the United States, hosted Federal Minister and Head of the Federal Chancellery Dr. Thomas de Maizière. The event focused on the performance of Germany's Grand Coalition and the challenges ahead. Mr. John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and former Chief of Staff for President Clinton, served as a commentator.

For a summary of this event, please click here.

To read Dr. de Maizière's speech, please click here (PDF).